99-year-old Swimmer Breaks 3 World Records on Same Day: ‘I Just Do the Best I Can’

99-year-old Betty Brussel celebrates setting three world records in one day!

On Saturday, the Canadian set the best times ever for the 100-104 age group in the 400m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke, according to The Globe & Mail,

That included shattering the previous record in the 400m freestyle by nearly four minutes, with a time of 12 minutes 50 seconds, and finishing the 50m backstroke in 1:20.42, breaking the existing mark by more than five seconds, according to the Canadian Swimming Club .

99-year-old swimmer Betty Brussel broke three world records on January 20, 2024.

Master Ducks Swimming/Youtube

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“When I’m racing, I don’t think about anything. Nothing,” said Brussel — who turns 100 in July Guard. “I’m just counting laps, so I know how many I have left.”

“I always try to find a pace that I can handle – you ask a lot of your body in these races,” she added. “And in the last lap, well, I do my best.”

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According to Globe & Mail, Brussell grew up in the Netherlands and is the second of 12 children. As a teenager, she had the responsibility of taking care of her younger siblings during World War II, and at the age of 14, her parents withdrew her from school.

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In 1959, the world record holder moved to Canada with her late husband, where they raised their three children in British Columbia. She then worked as a cleaner before becoming a seamstress and retiring in 1982.

“I don’t think about records at all,” Brussel said Guard. “I’m just swimming. I just do the best I can. And if it’s record good. If I win, I’m happy that I won. But if I have a good time, I’m happier.”

Speaking about her age, she added: “Sometimes I feel old. My youngest, who is 70 years old, said ‘Mom, you are old!’ But I don’t really feel old – only when I’m very tired. But the rest of the time I don’t feel old.”

Brussel explained that she gets “confidence from the water” and can “forget all her worries”.

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Source: HIS Education

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